We may as well state this at the start of this review: I am not
a Trekkie. Never have been. Probably never will… then again, I
once thought I’d never be a Deadhead, so maybe I shouldn’t slam the
door on this.
I harbor no ill will against
Star Trek in all of its various phases, nor do I have any
strong feelings good or bad towards the thousands upon thousands of
people who follow this genre so closely. (Well, that’s not totally
true; I admired the attitude of the one alternate O.J. Simpson
juror who refused to come to court unless she was wearing her
Starfleet Federation uniform. I always stick up for the
smart-ass.)
So I, admittedly, am probably not the best candidate to review a
disc like
The Best Of Star Trek Volume Two, a disc which collects the
themes from the well-known shows and mixes them with music from
various episodes, some of which have never been released on CD
before. Why did I review it? Simply put, I wanted to go where no
man (or music reviewer) has gone before.
And, after sitting through this disc… well, my mind hasn’t
been changed at all. There are some beautiful moments on this disc,
but unless you’re a devotee to any of the different shows, some of
this music won’t mean a thing to you.
Four of the tracks are the most recognizable – namely, the
themes. It’s kind of weird to hear the “Main Title” from
Star Trek: The Original Series and compare it to the richly
orchestrated themes from such shoes as
Star Trek: The Next Generation or
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It’s instantly recognizable, to
be sure, but it sounds like a relic in comparison. Still, it does
bring back memories of sitting in my buddy’s driveway on summer
nights, the television still on from the latest Cubs loss, when the
regular programming would kick back in.
Of the four themes, only the “Main Title” for
Star Trek: Voyager doesn’t do anything for me; it just
doesn’t present itself as anything that grand like the other three
shows. Oh, well; maybe the theme suggests a darker side to the
show. (The “Lounge Mix” of “Theme From Star Trek” also doesn’t do
much for me, though it kind of gives it a camp appearance.)
As for the episode music, I’ll give props to the producers for
including a wide variety of selections from
Star Trek: The Original Series. Admittedly, many of the
pieces sound like they blend together well (though I don’t think
that was the original goal), and while they sound as dated as the
theme music, they do have a kitsch value to them. Regrettably, the
remaining three series’ examples focus on one particular episode,
though the producers do a good job by closing the disc with
selections from “All Good Things,” the final episode from
Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Much of the episode music quickly falls to the background –
which, ironically enough, is where it came from, so at least it’s
appropriate. This, however, proves to be difficult when you’re
trying to focus in on the music, only to find yourself getting
distracted by it. And I can’t really justify including a version of
“Fever” from “His Way,” the only other episode featured from
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It’s not the most comforting
thought to have – even in the future, crappy music from the 20th
Century will survive, like cockroaches.
If you’re a diehard Trekkie, chances are you will absolutely
flip for
The Best Of Star Trek Volume Two; I let a Trekkie in my
office listen to the disc, and was barely able to get it back from
her. (Okay, I waited until she went home, but what matters is I got
the disc back.) If you’ve only dabbled in the series and don’t have
a fanatical devotion to any of its forms, chances are this is a
disc you could live without.
